Sleeping is Hard
by MisguidedGhostWriter
Summary: A series of loosely-related short stories and oneshots that spends time exploring Sans's and Frisk's life on the surface. Has a subtle overarching story that reveals itself bit by bit. Sometimes it's cutesy, and sometimes it's angsty. Takes place Post-Pacifist ending. Previous gen run implied. Kinda dark. Ratings range from K-T depending on the story. Enjoy!
1. Oops

**Story title: Oops**

 **Rated: K+**

 **Summary: An out-of-nowhere jump back in time leaves Sans confused. Frisk had promised him that they wouldn't do that anymore. Soon, however, Sans discovered that the kid didn't really have a choice.**

* * *

Sans blinked rapidly, sure something was wrong. He was on the couch in his home he shared with Tori and Papyrus and Frisk. There was a high pitched sound of a kettle boiling in the nearby kitchen. Sans could hear the voice of Tori saying; "Oh, hold on kettle, I'm coming!"

Something seemed spine-chillingly familiar about the moment.

On the TV was an episode of some show that he had never even heard of...only...he knew what was about to happen in the show, like he had watched the scene several times now. The words and background music followed a familiar pattern in his mind. He knew he had seen it before, recently too.

On top of that, he was sure he was doing something before this moment that was decisively not the thing he was doing now.

He hadn't had this feeling since he lived in the underground. That could only mean one thing.

He jumped from the couch and went upstairs to Frisk's bedroom, thoughts pounding in his head. No more jump backs in time, the kid had promised him! What...what had happened that was so bad the kid had to reload? Were they hurt? Bored? Angry? Messing with him?

When he arrived in Frisk's room, he knocked on the door softly before opening it. He was greeted by...an odd sight to say the least.

Frisk was out, fast asleep on top of their keyboard. Thier computer was on, showing that they had been busy at work typing some school report before seemingly collapsing on the 'h' key.

Unsure how to proceed, the skeleton observed the child. The kid had a troubled look on their face, their features, which should be relaxed with sleep were screwed up, twisted into a horrible frown. Their breathing, which should be sound and mellow, was hitched and unsteady. As San's approached they heard a quiet whimper.

"No." The child said, sleep heavy in their voice, still in the land of dreams, "Please, don't, don't go. I'm sorry, I can do better."

The sudden sound of the kettle and the TV startled Sans, as he found himself yet again on the couch. His memory from only a second ago was fast fading, and this time he teleported up to Frisk's bedroom, utter horror running through his bones. The kid was sleep-resetting. This was bad.

He reached the room again only to see that Frisk looked even worse than they had before. This time they were sobbing a little, "I don't want to kill." The words were slow. They were crying. "I'm so sorry...I...I…" Suddenly came a broken word, so quiet the Skeleton almost missed it. "Sans." Then even softer, "I'm sorry. Don't…"

They screamed. The child sat bolt upright, shrieking, a sound that Sans remembered from his nightmares.

He ran to comfort Frisk, wrapping them in an awkward hug half-hindered by the desk chair. "shh, shh, shh, it's okay. don't cry, it's okay." He hushed.

Frisk wasn't quite awake, but was quick to take to the comfort. They buried their head in Sans hoodie, sobbing loudly and shaking violently. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" They sobbed.

"it's okay, it's okay, you're safe now." Sans told them. He managed to scoop the kid up and walk them over to their nearby bed. The child clung to San's hoodie, absolutely determined to keep it close to them, and Sans sighed before shrugging out of it and lending it to the kid.

Frisk curled up to the hoodie like a teddy bear, and breathed in and out, trying to settle themselves. Sans sat in the desk chair and watched over them until they came to their senses. It took about 5 minutes, which is a very long time to watch a friend in pain.

Soon Frisk calmed down lying still in their bed. Slowly they noticed that something was up, and they rolled to their side to get a better look at the room. Their eyes widened confusedly as they took in their surroundings, lingering for a second on the window, then the clock that read '12:20 pm' then Sans.

"Uh, uh, Sans?" They began, trying to compose themselves "oh my god, is that really the time? I'm so late for school!" Their voice was exhausted, but they sprung to their feet.

"whoa there kiddo," Sans put a halting hand on Frisk's shoulder, "It's a saturday, you're good to go."

"What? No, I thought...did I... Toriel let me sleep in that long?"

"nope. you reset."

Frisk blinked. "No I didn't."

"yes you did. at least twice."

"When?" They sniffed, wiping a stray tear from their eye.

"don't know the exact time, but I'm fairly sure it was well you were sleeping."

"What?!"

"you had a bad dream, and reset in your sleep."

Frisk was at a loss for words. "I never...th-that's not good. I wouldn't want to…"

"reset it all well you're out?"

Frisk nodded worriedly.

"well, then, we'll have to get through this together. i don't want that either kid." He thought for a second. A decent way to get rid of nightmare was to talk about them, come to terms with them in real life, maybe that would help. "do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

Frisk opened their mouth, then closed it, shaking their head.

If San's had lips, he'd be worriedly biting them. "alright kiddo," he began "maybe we can talk about it over a snack." He remembered the kettle downstairs, "how does tea and toast sound?"

Frisk nodded, "good." They admitted.

The two went downstairs in relative silence, Sans had retrieved his hoodie, and Frisk clung onto his hand. Soon the two found themselves at the kitchen table. Frisk sat above their tea, pouring honey into it. Sans stirred some sugar in his. They both had warm pieces of toast with jam and butter. The sweetness from the jam wafted up and made Frisk smile. Sans watched them with sad eyes.

After a second, Frisk spoke, "You know Sans," they took a bite of their toast, "I'm really glad to have you on my _tea_ -m"

Sans gave a small laugh, "i could _toast_ to that." They clinked mugs, and both giggled.

Maybe, together, they could get out of this _jam_.

 _Fin_

 **Yay! Undertale fic. This one is super-cutesy, and I like it. I really like the idea of Frisk's power malfunctioning in their sleep, and I wish there were more fics with that concept. Feel free to steal that concept if you'd like. I'll probably end up editing in the morning, but for right now I think this is fine. Tell you what you think in the comments below!**


	2. Notes to Their Imaginary Friend, Part 1

**Story Title: Notes to Their Imaginary Friend, Part 1**

 **Rated: T for minor cursing**

 **Summary: Frisk is having an issue at school...an issue that may result in some very serious consequences for themself and all monsterkind.**

* * *

The school counseling office smelled of pencil shavings and lemon cleaning supplies. Sans entered the room, a concerned look hidden on his ever smiling features, and approached the front desk.

"hello," he said to the man behind the desk, who was glued to his phone, "i'm here to speak with mrs. horton about my child, frisk skeleton." The schools had needed a last name for Frisk to enroll. Papyrus had purposed Skeleton, and Frisk had agreed deciding that that was the coolest last name a kid could have. (Well, the second coolest at least, but Papyrus's first suggestion was shot down.) "i'm sans skeleton," Sans went on, "her 3 o clock."

The man nodded, not looking up from his screen, "Right back there," he pointed to a smaller office in the back of the room that had the door ajar. Sans thanked the man and walked to the office, knocking on the door.

"Come in!" Sounded a woman's voice. Sans opened the door and greeted the counselor there. She sat behind her desk, wearing a blue dress and thick green glasses. Her room was full of inspirational posters with cheesy slogans on them. She looked nice enough, but she jumped a bit when Sans walked into the room.

The woman gave a sheepish smile, "Thank you for coming, Mr…?"

"just sans is fine, thank you." The skeleton said as he shook the human counselor's hand and and sat in the cushy chair opposite her desk. "now, what's this about?" He asked, leaning forward with a bit of worry on his grinning face. "frisk isn't having trouble with grades, are they?"

The woman shifted some, a bit uncomfortable with Sans appearance, even if she was trying to hide that fact. Sans didn't hold it against her, he was still getting used to humans himself.

"No, nothing like that Mr. Sans. Frisk, your...child..."

Sans nodded. Child was close enough. He wasn't particularly Frisk's father, not like Toriel was their mother, but he was a guardian of sorts.

"He..she, uh," The woman stuttered. Sans somehow raised his non-existent brow and the woman gave a slight cough, "they" she corrected herself, "are exhibiting some troubling behavior." The woman pulled out some papers from her desk drawer and handed them to Sans, "They're turning in their work, but their teachers are concerned with some notes that often appear in the margins of their work."

Sans took the papers and eyed the assignment on top of the stack. It was a math worksheet, scrawled with Frisk's messy handwriting, long division covered the page. But off to the side was something different. In neat, pointed handwriting there were misplaced words. **'Reset, you idiot.'** they read.

Below that, in messy handwriting, _'No.'_

The _'No'_ was crossed through violently, the mark crossing it left an angry dent in the paper.

Below that, in the neat handwriting that stabbed into the worksheet; **'I'll make you.'**

After that, a wobbly sort of handwriting that almost seemed like a cross between the two wrote back, **_'burn in hell.'_**

A chill went down Sans's spine as he went to the next sheet, this one was an english paper, with the title 'What I Did This Weekend' on the top. The story below was a mundane one, detailing a lunch Frisk went to with Papyrus. But along the bottom of the paper, slanted and off to the side was the same pointed handwriting.

 **'This is getting tedious Frisk.'**

 _'Shut up Chara.'_

 **'Reset.'**

 _'No.'_

 ** _'Fuck you.'_**

The rest of the papers, 3 of them, all had similar notes scrawled between the lines. Sans had no idea how to respond.

"We can tell," The counselor began, "that none of the other students wrote these notes on their paper. But that's not all,"

Sans was trying not to sweat.

"Frisk talks to themselves on occasion," The woman went on, "they were given a lunch detention by their math teacher last week when they wouldn't stop talking during a math test. The teacher says they were muttering under their breath something about a person named Chara. When I asked them about it, Frisk said that Chara was their imaginary friend."

Sans was busy starring at the paper, "alright…" he trailed, unable to say much. Chara. He knew the name. Only vaguely, maybe from a past timeline. The name felt foreboding like only unhappy memories were associated with it.

"Now, this may not be cause for worry." The woman went on, "Frisk is only 12 after all, and it's not uncommon for kids that age to have imaginary friends. But, if their friend is going to interrupt their school time, something needs to be done about it."

"right, of course," Sans began, gulping a bit and making eye contact with the counselor, "frisk is a very imaginative kid, they are always making up stories. but, i do see the problem, what do you suggest I do?"

"For now," the woman said, "we would like it if you and their mother could speak with them at home about their friend. We don't want to stifle their imagination, but we would like to make it clear to Frisk that there is a time and a place for daydreams, and school is not an appropriate place or time to express them. This doesn't have to be a major problem, Mr. Sans. However, if this persists, I would recommend getting a therapist involved."

Sans nodded, "i understand. can I keep these papers?" He held up the stack and the counselor nodded.

"Of course." She said, "thank you for helping with this and being supportive of your child. Frisk is a very bright student, but we really do need to sort this out."

Sans nodded, "of course." He said back, "thanks for telling me about this. i'll talk to frisk tonight."

The woman smiled, "Thank you. That should be all for now, it was good to meet you." She shook Sans hand again. Sans smiled, but only because he was always smiling, and left the office.

Sans walked into the school parking lot, incredibly nervous. Whatever 'Chara' was, they weren't friendly. And if Frisk was talking to them...and they wanted Frisk to reset...that could only lead to bad times.

He rifled through the papers again, his non-existent eyes hovering over certain words.

'Reset.'

'Burn in hell.'

'Fuck.'

That last one was a kicker, never once had he heard Frisk curse. It was disorienting. And that handwriting, those crisp pointed letters that pushed down too hard on the paper like the writer was trying to kill the desk underneath, that handwriting, decisively did not belong to Frisk.

Something was seriously wrong here.

Now all he had to do was fix it.

 **So, this is going to be a 2 or 3 part story that will connect back to chapter one. There will be more cutesy fluff soon. I hope you liked it. Tell me what you think in the comments below.**


	3. Notes to their Imaginary Friend, Part 2

**Story Title: Notes to Their Imaginary Friend, Part 2**

 **Rated: T**

 **Summary: Frisk is having an issue at school...an issue that may result in some very serious consequences for themself and all monsterkind.**

* * *

Sans had gotten home from his meeting with the counselor and had immediately invited Frisk out for nice cream.

The nice cream man sold the frozen treats in a different place every day. Today he had set up shop at a local park, and Sans and Frisk waited eagerly in line. It was a long line, as the nice cream man had made it big on the surface. Human children had a tendency to be fascinated by monsters, especially big blue fluffy ones that sold frozen treats and looked downright huggable.

Sans and Frisk got to the front of the line and bought two nice creams, then they went to sit across from each other at a picnic table. Sans was hardly ready for what was to come, he wasn't particularly good at serious conversations, especially with the kiddo.

He opened his nice cream and smiled at the compliment on the wrapper 'you have a kind SOUL.' it said.

"Thank you so much Sans!" Frisk chirped between bites of nice cream, they looked around the park, eyes lingering on the slide, the sandbox, and then "can you push me on the swings?" they asked with an earnest yet excited energy that only a child could muster.

"maybe later kid," Sans said, "but i'll be honest with you," he held up his cold nice cream, "i didn't bring you here just to _chill_."

Frisk looked emotionally confused, like they didn't know whether to snort with laughter or be concerned.

"we have something serious to talk about." Sans told them.

Concern won out. "What did I do?" They asked solemnly, worry playing on their features. Sans noticed a little tremble in the kid's hand, their shoulders went rigid and they looked like they were expecting something, steeling their nerves. That wasn't good.

He wanted to reassure them, tell them they weren't in trouble. But that would be a lie.

"i just got finished meeting with your school counselor," Sans began, "she said you were having some trouble with an imaginary friend…?"

Frisk froze. "Oh, um, ya, heh, no, that's nothing really. Ju-just a game." They stuttered. Guilt flooded their features. Sans couldn't tell if it was guilt for their blatant lie, or something deeper than that.

"really?" Sans asked. He drew the stack of assignments from his hoodie pocket and spread them out on the table, showing the scrawled conversations to Frisk. "it's an elaborate game then." He said, watching them eye the papers. "could you explain the rules to me?"

Frisk stared at the papers. "No…" They said slowly, their voice failing them. Sans waited to see if they had anything else to say. Nothing more was said.

The skeleton decided to speak, "can you tell me about chara?" he asked steadily.

"No." Frisk squeaked. They flinched a little bit like someone had screamed at them. Tears prickled at their eyes. Sans wanted badly to wrap the kid in a hug, but he held back and simply observed them. Frisk was looking at Sans like he was a ghost. Grief, pain, anger and sorrow shone through misty eyes. And there was something else too, buried in their expression, a little bit of...hatred? Whatever it was, it looked unnatural on the face of one so young.

"I'm sorry." Frisk said suddenly, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, I just, I won't, they, uh, um."

Sans metaphorical heart broke, he sighed, standing from his bench and moved to sit by the kid. He put a comforting hand on their shoulder and Frisk tried to compose themselves.

It took a second. The child's facial expressions kept changing, grief, defiance, anger, hatred, defeat. They were sobbing all the way. It was almost like they were having an internal war, and Sans thought that maybe they were. He waited with baited breath for the smoke to clear.

When they spoke, it was in between cracked hiccups, "Sans," they said, "I promise I won't reset."

Sans nodded passively, then asked "does chara wants you to reset?"

Out of nowhere, Frisk laughed, it was the most deranged sound Sans had ever heard. "Chara wants me to...to..." they shook their head and scooched away from Sans, fiddling with their nice cream wrapper. Sans caught sight of the compliment there, "You are kind." it said.

Sans took a deep breath, he would have to try a different approach, "...did you want to talk about those nightmares you've been having?" He asked.

Frisk was despondent. The, they turned their palms up and stared at them. "There's no dust on my hands Sans." They confided, "But it's still there." They brought their hand across their heart. "There's no soul inside me. But Sans...it's still there. It's just not mine anymore. I sold it, to save all of you.

Sans was horrified, but didn't quite realize the emotion yet, "you...kiddo, what did you do?" he stuttered.

Frisk just shook their head, "One day, there might be a reset, Sans. And I promise you, that reset will not be because I wanted it."

Sans was frozen with fear. "kid…let's not do anything cr-"

"Sans, if that day comes," Frisk said instensly, "if you find yourself living back in Snowdin, telling jokes through a door, leave a note to yourself. Kill me on sight. I won't be me anymore."

"kid," Sans had no idea how to respond to that, "i would never hurt you. you know that, right?"

Frisk smiled at Sans, it was sweet at first, but it slowly got creepy, they laughed, those prickling tears falling down their face as they kept laughing, they laughed so hard they began to wheeze, they cried and they laughed and they shuttered, and they laughed, then they tried to calm down, leaning on the table for support.

"Sans," they gasped, "Sans you have no idea what I know," they gasped again, "but that's good. You should have no idea. It's okay. It's all okay." Their smile was bitter, too bitter for a 12 year old, they looked aged, they looked scarred, they looked scared. "Everybody is okay." they went on, like they couldn't quite believe it, "Everybody except for me. But Sans, can I let you in on a secret," They leaned forward, "I don't deserve to be okay."

"frisk," Sans said, "don't say that. you saved us all."

Frisk laughed, it was not a happy laugh, "I guess I did."

Sans shook his head and wrapped the kid in a hug. Frisk accepted it, burying their head in his hoodie. Sans looked over the papers once more, a cold wind gusted by, and half of the assignments wooshed off the table. Frisk shivered. Sans hugged the kid closer.

"Sans" the kid sighed into his hoodie, "I, I promise I'll tell you everything soon. But can we not talk about this right now?"

Sans nodded, "ya, ya kid, we'll talk about it when you're ready."

Frisk sniffed, "Thank you." Then they pulled away from the hug, and looked up at Sans then gave a small smile. It didn't reach their eyes.

"I, I'm gonna go play on the swings for awhile." They said, "I just...need to think."

"sure kiddo."

Frisk took a deep breath and gave the skeleton one last hug before they stood and went to cool down.

Sans watched them go, than set to work picking up the assignments from the ground.

The air smelled of freshly cut grass and chocolate.

 _Fin_.

 **I think this one got just a little bit dark. I'll write a light-hearted one for the next story. See you then!**

 **Please feed my review addiction, I love hearing from you guys, and constructive criticism is always welcomed.**


	4. How to Win, Part 1

**Story Title: How to Win**

 **Rated: K+**

 **Summary: Frisk disappears for the day. Sans is furious.**

* * *

Sans wasn't scared of many things. But oh damn did an angry Toriel scare the ever-loving shit out of him. Under her orders, he was busy calling every phone number he could. He had sent calls to Asgore, Undyne, Alphy, Metaton, Napstablook, Monster Kid, and to everybody else he could think of. Each call ran the same repeating dialogue;

"have you seen frisk anywhere? no? alright, keep an eye out, call us immediately if you see them."

Toriel was making calls too, angry in a way that only a worried parent could be, radiating with that potent mix of disappointment, worry, and heart-breaking fear that could make even bystanders feel ashamed enough to pick up their phone and call their mothers. Papyrus was stationed outside, on watch.

2:30 pm was when Frisk was expected home.

6:23 pm was when Toriel returned from her work (she had been out all day, filling out the forms and papers necessary to be able to create a school.)

6:45 pm was when the school called, announcing that Frisk hadn't shown up for the entire day.

8:00 pm was Frisk's curfew.

Now, it was 10:36 pm, and everybody was terrified.

But the worst part, Sans noted, was that the terror of the evening seemed to be lasting for a long time, much longer than a few hours. Sans had the distinct feeling that his repeating calls were repeating in more ways than one. He had the sense that he had lived today over, and over, and over again. That made him worried, worried for Frisk, for his family, and for the world they had all built. But mostly worried for Frisk, he hoped to high hell that they were alright. Of course, the feeling spurred anger as well.

That kid was in so much trouble when they got home.

Sans hung up his phone, wracking his brains for another number to call. He shook his head, having exhausted his contact list, and moved to the computer to check Frisk's social media again.

There was nothing, no status update, no new messages.

The house was filled with worry, the emotion was tangible. Sans could hear Toriel's voice from the kitchen, "alright, thank you. Please, if you hear from them, give me a call." She said.

With a click of the mouse, Sans reloaded the page, looking worriedly at the computer. Still nothing.

He was holding the phone again, why? No use trying anymore numbers, he'd tried them all. Hadn't he just been at the computer? No? Well, anyway, he needed to check Frisk's social media again. He put the phone down and made his way to the device.

Sans could hear Toriel's voice from the kitchen, "alright, thank you. Please, if you hear from them, give me a call." She said.

Sans reloaded the page. Still nothing.

This went on for awhile, or maybe it was only a few minutes. He couldn't tell. Sans could hear Toriel's voice from the kitchen, "alright, thank you. Please, if you hear from them, give me a call." She said. The clock said 10:36pm. Hadn't it said that before? Sans went to check the computer.

At one point, Sans distinctly remembers shaking his head, or maybe that never happened...he couldn't be sure anymore. An idea struck the skeleton and he ran upstairs to his own room. Hidden up there, he had a few items 'borrowed' from an old friend of his, all of which he kept in a small metal box. One of those items was a notebook, the notebook itself, and anything written on the notebook was unaffected by resets.

He wrote the time down at some point: '10:36pm.' He promised himself that every time he looked at the clock, he would write the time.

The night went on, Sans kept the list going.

11pm, 10:36pm, Midnight, 11pm, 1am, 2am, 10:36pm, Midnight, 11pm, 1am, 3am, 10:36pm, 11pm.

Eventually, there was a change. "SANS!" There was a sudden voice, that sounded from the front room, Sans looked up from the chair he had been occupying at the computer. He looked up at the clock, remembering vaguely that he had to record the time. It was midnight. He wrote it down in his book, then stood.

"what is it Pap?" He yelled.

"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS," his brother began, "HAVE CAPTURED THE HUMAN!"

Sans sighed in relief and was about to bolt to the source of the yelling, but stopped when he saw that Toriel had beat him to it, she ran from the kitchen like a crazy woman, leaving Sans to scramble behind her.

Toriel's body language told him that there was a motherly lecture coming. He prepared himself for yelling and worried hugs, and more yelling, but he stopped dead (heh) when he saw Frisk.

The kid was standing next to a victorious Papyrus, but despite that, they were smiling brighter than ever. They were covered in worrying scrapes and bruises and they were holding something, something that chilled Sans entire body and left him speechless, that vile thing in their hands was the embodiment of evil itself.

Sans tried to speak, but...he couldn't. Frightened, the skeleton turned his eyes away from the thing the child held, and looked into Frisks squinted eyes. Back in the day, he had a memory of looking at their eyes every time they crossed into Snowdin. It was a good indicator as to what sort of run he was in for. To his horror, there was something there, a dull glow of red. He wanted to turn tail and drag everyone away, to tell Papyrus to run, to engulf the child in blue light and demand to know what had happened, maybe even fight if it came to that, but he kept his cool.

Toriel had stopped in her tracks as well. She was staring at the thing Frisk held, and the child themself. "Frisk…" She began slowly.

Frisk suddenly laughed, it was a laugh Sans remembered from his nightmares. That wasn't Frisk. It couldn't be. He walked in front of Toriel, grabbing Frisk and dragging them into the house, away from his brother and away from Toriel. He was careful not to come into contact with that thing the child held. He checked the kid over with a critical eye. They still had no LV, and no EXP, that was good, but that red glint in their eye...it was fading now, but still.

He dragged Frisk to the couch, telling them to sit down before standing in front of them. The child complied, that chilling grin still on their face. They smelled of dirt.

"frisk," Sans said in a fatherly fashion, "you are in a lot of trouble."

"I know!" They chorused, practically bubbling with excitement. "But it's okay Sans! I won!" They held up the thing, the thing glared at Sans. "I saved everybody, just like I was supposed to." The child went on.

Sans eyed the thing, his eye glinting blue "flowey." The word was more poison than a greeting.

"Hello Sans." The thing hissed. "I suppose we're roomies now." It's words were bitter and angry. Sans could tell that if it wasn't for the grinning kid holding on tight to a flower pot the flower would be busy at work killing Sans.

Sans glared at it, the sentiment was mutual.

Still keeping a tab on Flowy, Sans slowly looked at Frisk, his eyes were black with rage, " **Frisk**." he said.

The child looked unshaken, no, they looked completely joyful, like they had won the lottery.

" **You have a lot of explaining to do**." Sans told them, " **Start. Talking**."

* * *

 **Here's another chapter. When this began, I had a completely different story in mind, but then this happened. Uhg, characters in my stories never listen to me. The next chapter will hopefully be a re-telling of the day from Frisks perspective.**

 **If you would be so kind, could you please leave a review? It really makes me happy when I get one, and it makes me feel not so alone in the universe. Thanks for reading this far. You're great. See you at the next chapter?**


	5. How to Win, Part -2

**Story Title: How to Win, Part -2**

 **Rated: K+**

* * *

Earlier that day

"Friiissskkkk," Moaned Chara as their host readied themself to face the day, "do we have to go to school today? I don't wanna." They incorporeally flopped onto Frisks bed, closing their eyes. It was early on a weekday morning, and like most children, Chara had a routine. 7am: protest as Frisk got out of bed. Check. 7:10am: try to talk Frisk out of doing anything too boring, namely, school. They were working on that check at the moment.

Frisk was normally one to ignore their ghostly tag along, or sometimes offer a 'quit whining, today will be fun!' in return, but today was different, "You're in luck then," Frisk said as they pulled on their blue and pink sweater, and tamed their bed head hair, "we're skipping."

Chara was confused to say the least, but strangely prideful. "What?" they asked, unbelieving. Then the first child grinned, "no way, little goody-two-shoes is rule breaking? I must be rubbing off on you then, huh?"

"Something like that," Frisk muttered. "Come on Chara, we have something important to do. I'm gonna need your support if we can make this work." That sounded promising enough.

"What are we doing?" Chara asked, springing up and falling into step with Frisk, who was leaving the room. But Frisk offered no response. Once the two were in the hall, hearing distance of the rest of their family, Frisk went silent.

' _I'll tell you when we're on the road.'_ Frisk thought to them. Chara shivered, feeling full force Frisk's emotions, steely determination that not even a god could shake mixed with bubbly anticipation and a little hint of...fear?

Both children hated communicating via their shared link, it was an annoying method, as more than just their intended thoughts seemed to drift through.

Frisk walked to the kitchen, greeting Sans who was making himself breakfast.

"Hey Sans," Frisk said indifferently. Frisk was good at hiding their emotions, more proof of Chara's influence.

"hey kiddo," Sans greeted just as indifferently. "Your lunch is on the table. Don't forget it today, alright? " Something told both children that Sans was hiding something, takes a liar to know a liar, afterall. But that didn't matter much this morning. For once Chara was excited about facing the day. For too long had they been oppressed by the boring mundanity of suburbia life, they needed some action.

And for once, Frisk was ready to provide.

Frisk waited until Sans left the room and took their lunch bag off the table top. Toriel had packed them a sandwich, some chips, a little slice of pie, and a juice box. Frisk smiled faintly before they began adding to the bag. They doubled the amount of food that they would normally have, packing extra snacks and a water bottle.

Chara sent confusion at them, the mental equivalent of a 'why?' or 'what are you doing?'.

' _I'm packing lunch and dinner, it's gonna be a long night.'_ Frisk told them. Chara felt a gust of Frisk's emotions, 'worry, fear, DETERMINATION.'

Chara sighed and took a step toward frisk, "That's it, you're telling me what we're up to. Now." Chara held out their ghostly hand. Frisk eyed their companion before sighing and reaching out to them. Their hands brushed. They became a single mind...more or less.

Chara's thoughts were flooded with images. Many of them were garbled, and hard to make out. The remnants of a nightmare, the words of a paper they were working on, pictures of their friends both monsters and kids at school. But that was just background chatter, like faint erased lines on a drawing. The main focus was...a picture of Flowey. Asriel, actually. No...Flowey. The image shifted between the two, the expression on Flowey's face was tormented, sad, and hopeful all at the same time. A picture of their fondly loved goat brother standing over the flowers. He seemed to be telling them to leave, to be with their family. But Frisk...Chara didn't want to go. Grief, sadness, fear and DETERMINATION drifted through the image like light brush strokes of faded color. A thought sprouted into Chara's Mind, as soft as a whisper on a cold night. Chara couldn't tell who the thought belonged to, it could have been theirs, it could have been Frisks, but it might have been both. 'Save him'.

Chara understood. But at the same time, didn't.

The two dropped hands and stared at each other. "How?" Chara asked.

Frisk only smiled. ' _Remember that project we did for art class?'_ They thought.

"No." Chara tried to block out most things they did in that hell. School was utterly boring, and most of the time they spent there was either done asleep, or annoying Frisk. If Frisk was distracted enough well they were working or talking, Chara found they could take control of Frisk's hand, much to their host's annoyance.

Frisk smiled knowingly, ' _I'll show you in a second.'_

Chara sent a mix or disapproval, annoyance, and resignation at Frisk, the mental equivalent of a pout.

Frisk continued going through the motions of their own morning routine. They brushed their teeth, washed their face, had a bowl of cereal, and gathered their school supplies. They said a quick goodbye to Sans, who was doing a crossword, and went outside, their backpack slung over their shoulder, and their lunch bag (Which now looked bloated) swinging by their side.

Once they were outside though, their demeanor changed. They took a deep breath and walked over to a tree which was a good distance away from the house. Behind the tree, hardly noticeable, was a painted flower pot. In the flower pot was a twenty dollar bill and a small baggy full of quarters.

Frisk held up the pot to Chara, "We painted this in art class, remember?"

Chara eyed it, and did indeed remember. One side of the pot was decorated with a carefully drawn flower. The petals consisted of rainbow hearts, and there were daintily designed spiders that seemed to dance around the base. On the other side of the pot was a large splash of black paint, which had been Chara's doing. It splattered over to top of the ceramic and dripped down into the pot itself. On top of the black, small, and looking like it had been added after, was a red heart floating in the darkness.

"So we're going to put Asri-" they coughed, "Flowey in that?" Chara clarified. They were starting to feel a little anxious.

Frisk nodded. "Yup." They stashed their school bag behind the tree then walked on. They reached the main road, and instead of taking their normal right towards the school, they hung a left towards the public bus stop.

Frisk got their money out.

"It's a long way to the underground." Chara said.

Frisk nodded ' _good thing I have you for company.'_ They thought. Chara couldn't tell if they were being genuine or sarcastic. They thought maybe it was a bit of both.

* * *

 **Alright, so that chapter's over with.**

 **I'm going to be absolutely honest with you guys; the entire story up to this point has consisted of what I like to call 'insomnia fics'. Or, 'things I wrote at 2am because I couldn't sleep fics.' This one is different, I wrote it when I was more awake. So, I apologize if you found any change in my tone. 2am me and rest-of-day me are two different people.**

 **Also, the more I learn about Chara, the more I've actually come to like them. I'm trying to give Frisk and Chara a better dynamic. I hope you guys like it.**

 **Thank you for reading, please leave me some feed back.**


	6. How to win, Part -1

**Story Title: How to Win, Part -1**

 **Rated: K+**

* * *

Frisk loved riding the bus. They had a certain fascination with sitting by a window watching the land around them fly by, houses and cars, and buildings each with their own inhabitants, their own history, their own stories.

The quiet was nice too. There were no people telling them what to do, or yelling at them, or vying for their attention. There was just the indifferent hum of of the engine, and the hushed conversations of the other riders. The early morning sun had just risen over the horizon, washing the sky in the kind blues and pinks of late dawn. The air outside had a bite to it, and they could feel the cold through the metal of the bus. Frisk leaned their head on the window, smiling at the coolness of the glass and letting their eyes drift shut.

"Frisk wake up," Came a small, annoyed, voice. Frisk blinked, looking up at Chara through sleep-crusted eyes.

' _What?'_ they managed to think irritably. They caught some of Chara's emotions, anxiety, uncertainty, and anticipation. Chara was probably worried about meeting their brother, and not too keen on the idea of Frisk falling asleep, which would leave them alone on a bus full of strangers. Chara hated strangers, and distrusted people as a general rule. Frisk felt immediately bad for being short with them. ' _are you doing okay?'_ Frisk thought, trying to soothe their companion.

"Fine." Chara said, bitterness present in their voice, all ideas of having a friendly conversation gone out a moving window. "You need to stay awake so you don't miss your stop." They said.

Frisk sighed and sat up straight, "You're right." They said under their breath, knowing Chara heard them. "Relax alright, you don't have to worry about this. We'll get through it all, okay?" They reassured.

That was another thing they liked about public transportation, nobody judged a person for talking to themselves. Frisk patted the seat by them, the universal symbol of 'sit down'.

Chara rolled their eyes and walked-well, floated really-over to a seat on the other side of the bus, making it clear that Frisk was in for the silent treatment. Frisk was fine with that, they needed to rest anyway. Today would be big.

They rolled their eyes at their companion's dramatics and once again propped their head against the bus window. But, they stayed awake out of respect for Chara. The bus moved on and on picking up and dropping off passengers, Frisk kept an eye on Chara, and occasionally nibbled on some snacks from their lunch bag, there was not much to do but wait. As their destination drew nearer and nearer, they actually began to regret this bus in particular. Their stop...wouldn't precisely be a place of happy memories for the child.

Eventually, the bus came to it's stop. They had ended up on the outskirts of a small town, this town was the closest public transportation could take a person to the dreaded Mt. Ebot.

Frisk took another breath, it was labored. This was never a place they ever wanted to go to again, but, if they were going to save Flowey, they would have to be here. They would have to stay DETERMINED. But...the sight of the street...the bus stop...the local store...it was all too familiar. They started shaking, and it wasn't from the cold. There was a reason they lived so far away from _here._ Not a happy one either. It had been Frisk who convinced Toriel to find a house that was a 1 and a half hour drive from this slice of hell.

It was right after Breakfast, but not quite time for lunch. The children in the town were safely stored in their classrooms, and adults in their office spaces. Frisk walked the cold sidewalks, keeping to the back roads so they wouldn't be seen. There were too many memories here. They shivered, their breath fogged up in front of them.

Chara followed them as they walked, lurking a few steps behind. Frisk could feel some of Chara's emotions, on top of the anxiety, they seemed sad, nostalgic, and pained. Frisk wondered why, but the truth soon dawned on them, oh, right, the two had the same home town, didn't they?

During their journey, they passed a park where a statue was set up among a field of golden flowers.

"Can you hold my hand?" Frisk stopped dead in their tracks after hearing their companion speak for the first time in hours.

Frisk slowly turned, looking at Chara. The pair hadn't held hands since...since the true lab. Frisk remembered being huddled in the cold, dark halls, refusing to move forward, and Chara had helped them to stand, led them through the hallways, muttering endearing insults the whole way and reading the lab entries to Frisk.

Frisk stared at Chara now, shocked. The specter was...crying. Tears welled in their red eyes, and their voice was tight, "Please?" Chara asked.

Chara needed comfort, a companion. Frisk could use some as well. ' _Of course_.' Frisk thought to them, trying to send soothing emotions to the other child. Frisk held out their hand.

Chara gratefully grabbed it, and the two became one.

' _We'll save Flowey, you know.'_ they thought. ' _then we never have to come back to this place again.'_

It wasn't long before the two reached the base of the mountain.

The fallen children steeled their nerves as they began to climb. They knew where the barrier was, and they knew it was still open. It was faster to take a fall, Chara knew, but Frisk insisted on the safer route. They made their way into Asgore's castle. Then they began the long walk to the ruins. Neither of the children spoke, they didn't need to, their thoughts were joined.

The river person was no longer in business. The Underground seemed haunted.

They trekked through the Hotlands. Frisk filled the flower pot with dirt.

They splashed through the waterfall. The children made silent wishes and listened to the echo flowers, which only spoke to themselves now.

They walked through the abandoned town of Snowdin. It was untended, and the snow was deep. Frisk's footprints was the only set.

They passed into the forest, then the ruins. They started a fire in the fire place at Toriel's house. They sat by the flames for a while, warming up and lightly talking. Frisk finished off the food in their lunch box. Despite everything, Toriel's home was still warm and safe. Then, after stalling for far too long, they left. They SAVEd at Toriel's house, so they would have a kind place to return to if they fell down. It must be very late outside, but they wouldn't know if it was.

Soon...they were right back where they started. They waited for him.

"Well well well," Came a cocky voice, "If it isn't Frisk? Don't you have anything better to do?" The words were spat. Flowey was soulless again. They. would. save him.

Frisk's SOUL floated from their body. The fight began.

* * *

 **T** **his chapter was a lot more subdued and quiet then the others. I just had to have Frisk and Chara walking through their old home town. Hmm. Can you please tell me what you think so far?**


	7. How to Win, Part 0

**Story Title: How to Win, Part 0**

 **Rated: T for cursing.**

* * *

"This is getting ridiculous Frisk!" Chara exclaimed as the two found themselves standing outside Toriel's house yet again. "We can't beat him like this! The only way we can move him is with-"

"No Chara, we're not going to hurt him!" Frisk snaps, pacing back and forth the length of Toriel's lawn, frowning deeply with the little flower pot clutched to their chest. "I think we're wearing him down. We just need to keep talking with him and he'll agree to come with us. It'll work. You'll see. We just have to keep doing it this way."

" _Your_ way consistently gets us killed!" Chara exclaims, "You know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again."

"No, it's not!" Frisk shook their head, "His memories don't reset-"

"Neither do his moves! He'll go left one timeline then right the next just to fuck with us. He's a soulless asshole! There's no way you can break through to him! He KNOWS this is all a game!"

"His memories don't reset," Frisk's voice was venom, annoyed at being interrupted, "So everytime we talk to him-"

"Every time YOU talk to him! I can't even get a word in!"

"HE REMEMBERS AND WE GET TO HIM A LITTLE MORE!" Frisk shouted, stomping their feet on the dirt. "CHARA! I WON'T DO THIS AGAIN! I WON'T LOSE HIM! I NEED...I need...to...to." Frisk hiccuped in air, they were trembling, any rage they had dissipating like water droplets on a hot stove, Frisk started to sob. "I need to save everyone." Tears sprung to their eyes, "It's my job. I can't leave anybody behind. No one...no one deserves to be abandoned, Chara." Frisk sat in a heap by the SAVE point. Normally they were more collected than this, but dying a lot really got to them.

"Frisk…" The demon approached their now sobbing companion. Chara really didn't like seeing their host cry. "Come on now, don't be like that. I'm sorry I even said anything. You're right, we're wearing him down."

"No, we're not." Frisk sobbed, "He just keeps telling us to go away! He thinks he's trapped down here. What good is my DETERMINATION to save him if he is just as DETERMINED to stay lost?"

Chara thought for a second, maybe it was Frisk' goody-two-shoe nature rubbing off on them, but Chara didn't like seeing Frisk so...defeated. They sat heavily by their companion, thinking hard, "You know...if he won't listen to you...there's a chance that he'll listen to me. When we lived together, I was the only one who could convince him to do something once he had the mind set not to. If you give me control…"

Frisk tensed.

"I could talk him into coming with us." Chara finished.

Frisk's lip quivered. "How do I know that you won't just…"

"Take control and go on a killing spree?" Chara asked dryly.

Frisk nodded.

"Well, first of all, I couldn't kill for shit." Chara shrugged, "Not with your LV, and definitely not with that walking sack of puns around. Second of all, I'm actually somewhat...fond" It hurt to say that, "of this timeline. This ending you have is...everything I couldn't accomplish in my life. I tried to save the monsters...but...my death wasn't enough to do it. I wasn't good or clever enough. But, you were." Chara sighed, "Don't get me wrong, I would love it if we could reset. Life has no real purpose after all, the universe doesn't care about us and we're all going to die, so why not treat this wretched existence as a game, right?" They scowled, but then steadyed themself "But...you somehow found a place in the universe that isn't a cruel-ass shit hole. Still don't know how you did it, but...you did. Maybe we should hold off on the reset and the killing and just...try to be happy?"

Frisk turned to look at their companion, "Do you mean it?" They asked.

Chara thought about it, "Ya." They said.

Frisk reached out their hand. Chara could feel emotions that their companion sent at them, disbelief, weary trust, anticipation, and demand, the mental equivalent of; 'I want proof.'

Chara grabbed their hand, and for a second the world spun, and their minds merged. They could feel Frisk evaluating their emotions, going through intentions and thoughts. Chara let them. When their hands dropped Frisk took a deep breath. "Alright. I trust you." They told Chara.

Chara gave a nod, "Alright. My turn to be player 1."

The phantom sat down next to Frisk and leaned on them before phasing into the body completely, Frisk's spirit sort of rolled away, leaving the vessel to the other child.

Chara felt as if they had put on a large and awkward Halloween costume. For a second they spluttered and coughed as their breathing matched their new host, as their limbs got used to the effects of gravity, and as their skin got used to sensation. They realized in that moment how warm the underground was, and how stale the windless air seemed to be. It wasn't pleasant.

They almost thanked Frisk for being in a sitting position, because they were sure had Frisk been standing when they made the switch, Chara would have fallen.

"Okay, I'm good." Chara said, standing and looking to a worried phantom Frisk, "Let's give this diplomacy thing one last try, alright?" They held up the flower pot, with a grin on their face.

Frisk nodded. Chara stretched. Then the two made their way through the ruins to find their old friend.

* * *

"Really? I thought you'd left this time!" Rang Flowey's annoyed voice, "Frisk, don't you-"

"Shut up Flowey. You're getting in this pot. Now." Chara commanded, holding out the object in their hand. "Come along, or I'll slice you at the stem and take you by force."

Frisk stared at them, horrified. Chara ignored Frisk.

"Wow, that's dark. So I've finally gotten to you, huh? You're sick." Flowey laughed.

"You, gotten to me?" Chara's voice was a chuckle, "Ya right," They walked closer to the flower with a deadly poise that Frisk did not possess, then, standing beneath the hole in the cavern ceiling, with moonlight drifting across their face, they stared at the flower, their eyes glinting red, "I've gotten to you, Azzy." They confided. "Pot. Now."

Flowey looked scared, but their fear morphed into a grin, "Chara! Long time no see! I'm glad that you finally got that brat to give you their body! Does this mean we can play again?"

Chara shrugged, "No, not really. But, I have news for you, if you ever want Frisk to leave you alone, you better come with us. They are DETERMINED to get you out of here, and you know how us humans get when we're DETERMINED." They chuckled, "You'll be trapped talking with little goody-two-shoes for eternity. Imagine them saying 'I know you can change! I know you can do better!'" Despite Chara having Frisk's voice now, they still made their impression of the other child aggravating and high pitched, "over and over until forever. It would be Hell. So," Chara crouched down next to the flower, "You're coming with us. Besides, I really miss having my brother around."

Flowey stared at Chara, truly jarred by the demon's words. "You're...working with them…" They began.

Chara nodded.

"And neither of you are going to give this up."

Again Chara nodded.

"...Fine. I'll go with you. But, Chara," Flowey suddenly glared, and in a second, Chara's SOUL floated from their body and Flowey attacked, dragging them down to 10hp in a single hit. "That's, for getting yourself killed."

Chara recoiled in pain, their eyes glowed the color of flickering embers.

"Chara," Frisk said from the sidelines, "Spare him."

Chara was pissed, and they attacked, whapping Flowey with the flower pot.

Flowey laughed, having barely lost any health. "I spare you." They said tauntingly.

"PLEASE!" Frisk said again, "Spare him!"

Reluctantly, Chara complied. "You're spared." They hissed. "Pot. Now."

"Absolutely." He grinned.

Chara set to work, digging the flower up carefully and putting them into the pot.

When the deed was done, the two siblings merely stared at each other. One was a soulless entity in the body of a flower, and one was a demon in the body of a child.

"This is pretty fucked up." Chara commented.

"Agreed." Said the flower. The two cast looks to each other before setting off to leave the underground. Frisk trailed behind unseen.

"So, where are we going?" Asked Flowey.

"Home." Said Chara.

The air smelled of abandonment and buttercups.

* * *

It was 1am, and Chara was lying face down on Frisk's bed. They had spent the last hour relaying a tale of half-truths to their family, cutting out most of the bits that would suggest Chara's existence. Toriel and Papyrus had bought everything they said, eating up the young demon's lies like candy.

But Sans was another story. Chara, Frisk, and Flowey all got the sense that he knew precisely what was going on, or at least, had an unsubstantiated hunch.

Chara had been sent up to Frisk's room, officially grounded for the next 2 weeks. Despite this, they were very glad that the family had decided to keep Flowey. However, they were a little nervous at the family's knowledge of Flowey.

Toriel didn't know that Flowey was her son.

Papyrus thought Frisk had just brought home his old friend, and was insanely happy with the fact.

But, Sans knew exactly who Flowey was. Chara wasn't surprised, as Sans had records on _everything_ that went on in that awful lab, Flowey included. He used to work so close to the DETERMINATION projects, afterall, AND he knew about the timelines. He was dangerous.

"Alright," Frisk's voice rang, drawing Chara from their thoughts.

Chara rolled over and looked at the spirit of their companion.

"What is it?" Asked Flowey from the bedside table, noting Chara's movement, "Is it Frisk? Let me guess, they want their body back. Figures, the little 'angel of light' over there ruining all our fun." He huffed.

Chara sighed, "Can't I stay a little longer?" They asked.

"Chara," Frisk said, "I want my body back. Come on, please, I let you have it all the way here, but, I would like it back now. You promised."

Chara rolled their eyes. "Fine come here."

The two made the switch.

Frisk coughed, "Good to be back." They commented. Then they looked to Flowey, "I'm glad you're here." They said. They reached to give the flower pot a hug, and Flowey sighed as they did. "You won't regret this decision, I promise." Frisk muttered. They seemed absolutely beaten and tired.

"I'm just here until you reset." Flowey returned.

Frisk shrugged before looking at the clock, "It's really late." They said, "We should all go to bed."

Chara groaned, "Ya, I'm exhausted. I forgot how taxing it was to be in a body."

Frisk stood, stumbling a bit, and muttering, "ya, you're right" before crossing the room to turn out the lights. With a flick of their hand, the room went dark, and they sauntered sleepily to their bed, burrowing under the covers and cuddling up to their pillows. They didn't care that they were still in their day clothes, they were too tired to make the effort to change. "Goodnight Flowey, good night Chara." They said to their roommates, "Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight" Chara and Flowey returned.

Frisk closed their eyes and began to fall asleep, unaware that Sans stood outside the door, intently listening to every. single. word.

Life would never be the same.

* * *

 **Uh oh. Merry Christmas guys, hope you liked this! I'm very glad to be done with this short story. I have a one-shot planned for the next bit. Thanks for giving this fic so much love! Please leave your feedback below!**


	8. Road Trip

**Story Title: Road Trip**

 **Rated: K**

 **Summary: A slice of life tale in which the seeds of the future are sown. Everyone plays a game, Frisk and Sans have a talk, and Eris throws an apple. What wars lay in the future?**

Frisk sat in the middle row of a minivan, watching the land around them pass by out the window. Perched in their lap was a very annoyed looking Flowey, and next to them, crammed in the middle seat, was Chara who Frisk could tell was pissed. The young demon's annoyance leaked through the pairs psychic link, making the mindless pop drear on the radio sound especially annoying to Frisk. On the other side of trio, occupying the other window seat, was Sans. In the very back of the van was Asgore, who took up the entire back row of seats. In the driver's chair was Toriel, and Papyrus rode shotgun. Saddly, the younger skeleton also controlled the radio.

They were all on their way to a peace conference in Phoenix, leaving a previous conference in Oregon and making their way through the vast Arizona Desert.

The song on the radio faded out, replaced by another song that was almost indistinguishable.

"Perhaps we should play a game, my child?" Toriel suggested, turning down the music a touch. "Maybe I spy?"

Frisk shrugged, and Flowey groaned, "Uhg," Said the flower, "We played that game hours ago!"

"i'll go first," Said Sans, eye sockets shining with amusement at the thought of annoying Flowey. "i spy with my little eye something...yellow."

"Oh gee," Flowey rolled his eyes, "Is it me?"

"nope." Sans returned, "don't be so vain kid."

"Is it…" Frisk looked around, seeing a yellow object on the distance, "Is it that road sign?"

"bingo. you're turn buko."

"Uhg!" Both Flowey and Chara protested. "Frisk, make him stop!" They said it exactly at the same time.

Chara grinned, "Ha! Jinx Azzy, you owe me a soda! Frisk, tell him he owes me a soda."

Frisk cast a glance to Chara, trying to hold back a giggle. Them and Flowey were like twins sometimes.

"what's so funny kid?" Sans asked, his voice seemed lazy and easy going, but Frisk was sure they heard an edge. The skeleton leaned in close, unknowingly phasing through Chara.

Chara leaned into Frisk, glaring at Sans as if he were the devil. This caused Frisk's head to spin a bit, as the closeness of their companion made their link stronger.

Frisk again shrugged in reply, trying not to look sick. The extra emotions plus the movement of the car was making them lightheaded. But they pretended they were fine "Hmm...I spy with my little eye…" They could feel both Flowey and Chara glaring at them as they continued the game, and they could feel almost a sense of betrayal radiating from their ghostly companion. "Something...purple."

Sans leaned against the car door and lazily observed his surroundings, but still Chara crowded Frisk.

"IS IT TORI'S DRESS?" Came Papyrus's voice as he pointed frantically at their driver.

"Yup!" Frisk confirmed, a bit of strain in their voice. "Your turn Pappy!"

Papyrus clapped his hands, "I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE SOCKET, SOMETHING…" Then he paused, "HUMAN, YOU DO NOT LOOK WELL!" he commented.

"I um, um, I think I'm getting car si-," Suddenly Frisk's stomach did a dip, tears sprung to their eyes as they held back being sick. They put one hand over their mouth.

"No no no, don't puke on me!" Flowey protested.

Frisk's face turned as green as the stripes on Chara's shirt. From the backseat, Asgore scrambled to grab a plastic bag, he dumped it's contents out and handed the empty bag to Frisk, who promptly threw up in it.

Sans grabbed Flowey from Frisk's lap and patted them on the back. Frisk felt awful.

Thankfully the van was close to a rest stop, and they pulled up to one to dispose of the bag and give Frisk some fresh air. Dust spun out of the tires and clouded the window as the minivan pulled up. Frisk opened the door and scrambled outside, Chara trailing behind them.

Frisk didn't much like the rest areas in Arizona. They were a lot dustier than the grassy ones in Oregon, and the heat there was sweltering. There were a few trees and a large central building whose main features were an information booth and attached bathrooms. They had beverages at the booth, water, coffee, and the fixings for hot chocolate and tea. They also, thankfully, kept a small tray of cookies for passersby. Frisk walked from the parking space, smiling at a tired-looking woman who was walking her dog.

Chara was commentating the whole way, about how gross it was that Frisk had puked, about how the sky was a violent shade of blue, and the sun was too bright, about how annoying Sans was, and a variety of other complaints. Frisk managed to ignore them as they walked toward the bathrooms.

But the ignoring ceased when the ghost child gasped, "WOAH FRISK LOOK!" they pointed, frantically, trying to get Frisk's attention. Frisk went to see what all the commotion was about, and frowned. The young demon was pointing at a folded object on the ground. Frisk went to observe it.

"It's a old pocket knife." Chara explained. "Yours now! Finders keepers!"

Frisk picked it up and unfolded the knife. It had been half buried in the ground, and looked somewhat aged. A thick layer of dust covered it, and the paint was sun bleached. Frisk observed it closer. The wood was painted gold, and it had a little engraving that read simply 'to the prettiest one.' Frisk passed the little thing from hand to hand, liking the weight on their fingers. They folded out the blade, it was dull with age and glinted in the sun. Srange. Almost reluctantly, they folded up the object and pocketed it. It had been in that dirt for a long time, any past owners were long gone, lost to the open road.

Frisk continued on their way to the restrooms where they washed up and, on Chara's insistence, carved their name and the year into a bathroom stall, along side the several names before them.

Then they made their way back to the car, grabbing a cookie and a styrofoam cup of water. But before they could pile back into the van, Sans found them. Frisk couldn't quite make out his expression.

"how's your imaginary friend holding up?" He asked nonchalantly.

Frisk froze, "Oh, um, uh, Chara?" They asked sheepishly, "They're fine, um,"

"Oh, for fucks sake Frisk, give me control, let me talk to him." Chara suddenly said, making Frisk stare at them in horror. Their companion looked irritated, like they wanted to get something off their chest. Frisk simply shook their head, dread on their face.

Sans followed Frisk's gaze only to see that they were looking at nothing. "that them?" He asked.

"Y-ya. They want to talk to you." Frisk said the words unbelieving, still staring at their companion.

"well, what a coincidence, i'd like to talk to them." Sans said. He made it sound like a civil request, but it was anything but.

"NO!" Frisk gasped, utter terror on their features, there was no way they'd give up control like that, especially with a knife in their pocket. "I mean, no, please no, i won't do that. Listen, if you two want to do a back and forth, I'll translate, but there's no way I'm, uh, no, just no."

"Frisk!" Came the voice of Toriel, "Sans! We're heading out again!"

"Coming mom!" Frisk yelled back. Then they looked back to the waiting skeleton, "Listen, Sans, maybe you two can talk later, but it's not a good time now, alright? Can we please just get back in the car?"

Chara glared at Frisk. Sans nodded.

"sounds good to me kid. but you, me, and them" He pointed in Chara's general direction, "we need to have a talk, soon."

"K," Frisk said.

Then the trio headed back to the car.

* * *

 **Oh boy. hope you guys liked this chapter! Tell me what you thought about it in the comments below!**


	9. Echoes of the Past, Part 1

**Story Title: Echos of the Past, Part 1**

 **Rated: T (for all the angst!)**

 **Summary: Frisk has a nightmare, and Sans finally has that talk with Chara**

* * *

Demons didn't dream. That's why Chara liked to stay close to Frisk when the other child slept. They could sit next to their companion and drift in and out of conciseness, relying on their psychic link to relay glimpses of Frisk's mind. It wasn't a dream of their own, but it was better then the blackness of demonic slumber.

Normally, Frisk's dreams had a vivid free form feel to them, encompassing emotions of kindness and a sort of elemental whimsy. They were open and breezy like air, fluent and changing like water, full of flares of fiery determination and all grounded in a sort of confidence that things would end up alright. But, the dreams weren't like that tonight.

Chara lounged on the end of a hotel bed, staring at the ceiling and drifting on the emotions of Frisk's mind. The dreams had started normal enough, Frisk seemed to be walking through some sort of woods. Chara caught the sound of songbirds, the feeling of sun on their face, the smell of pine trees and wild blackberries. But then, the scene changed. There was cold bullet like rain. They were in an ally, someone was screaming, Frisk was alone. The aloneness was crippling, and physically painful. Frisk was crying, they to disappear. Chara could feel a stinging on their arm, they caught an image of Frisk fiddling with a dirty bandage, keeping it in place. The scene changed. Frisk climbed the mountain, tears on their face, they were looking for a place to disappear.

In the real world, a sob escaped Frisk's lips.

Chara sat up and grabbed frisk's hand. They tried to send soothing emotions to their companion, but found that they weren't very good at the whole comforting thing. They tried to tell Frisk to wake up, but Frisk only cried more. Chara flinched away as Frisk's dreams grew more intense. There were flashes of half formed images. They saw Undyne with her spear, they saw Toriel fading to dust, Asgore as he brought down his axe, and, Sans...with a tormented expression and one glowing blue eye. Chara felt sick.

They felt an almost electric shock as Frick's dream self died.

Frisk let out a bloodcurdling scream. They sat bolt upright on their bed, sobbing and crying, yelling "I'MSORRYI'MSORRYI'MSORRY!" at the top of their lungs. Their hands moved to their head as they tried to calm themself down, Chara watched as Frisk gripped their hair and pulled it, using the pain to get some sort of grip on their reality, to prove they were alive.

Uncertain, Chara reached out and grabbed Frisk's hands, stopping their companion from hurting themself further.

"Frisk, calm down. It's just a bad dream." Chara murmured.

Frisk choked out something between a sob and a scream, collapsing on Chara and wrapping them in a hug.

Chara felt a heaviness in their stomach, feeling with full magnitude Frisk's emotions. Chara began to sob too, the pair sat there hugging each other.

"I-" Frisk sucked in a breath, 'I-I can't-" Chara could tell that Frisk had broken down. The other child wanted nothing more than to run, run away from the nightmares, and run far, far away from the emotions.

Chara hugged them close, but then, something changed. They felt a sort of tumbling sensation, and before they knew it the room was spinning. Chara felt gravity, they were coughing as their lungs started working. Suddenly, the emotions were much more intense. They almost recognized what had happened, but before they could make sense of the event, they collapsed. Soft covers from the bed piled around them, they were crying, crying harder than they ever could as a spirit. They sobbed, their chest hurt, their eyes stung with tears.

"Sorry Chara." Said the soft voice of Frisk. Chara could barely register the sound, they were too busy drowning in emotions. As a spirit, everything was cut off. Any emotions were purely mental. They lacked the physical hormones of a human, and the emotional burden of a SOUL guiding their actions. This was full force, something they hadn't felt in decades.

A door opened. Footsteps were heard. A light turned on. Chara kept sobbing, unable to stop.

"frisk?" Came a familiar voice. "what happened?"

Chara gave no response.

The skeleton went to sit on the edge of the bed. He gathered Chara up in his arms and held them in a fatherly fashion. Chara cringed away from him, but didn't do much else. Their head was still spinning.

"hey kiddo. another bad dream?"

Chara didn't know how to respond. They kept crying, thankful for the warmth of the skeleton, who, like most monsters, had the comforting thrum of magic running through him.

Slowly, Chara's situation came into full view. They were in Frisk's vessel again, Frisk had switched out in order to escape emotions. There was a warmth in Chara's chest that they haven't felt in quite awhile. It was a SOUL. Normally the ownership of Frisk's SOUL was split right down the middle, Frisk's to use, and Chara's to own, that was part of their little wager. This allowed Frisk and Chara to share a link, to share experiences and to share emotions. But Frisk, in an attempt to escape those emotions had made the rash decision to push ownership of the SOUL to Chara. Of course this wasn't a stable way to do things, the link would open up with time, but for now Chara felt everything, and Frisk nothing.

Through tear stained eyes they saw the ghostly outline of Frisk, utterly soulless, leaning against the hotel wall next to the door that adjoined Frisk's hotel room to Sans and Tori's hotel room. They looked calm, and unremorseful.

Chara took deep breaths, trying to reconcile with their mental state. They felt exhausted. Their body was heavy with sleep, their mind was flooded with feelings, and they felt fairly dizzy. They wiped their nose on the blankets, not daring to look Sans in the eyes.

"do you want to talk about it?" Sans asked.

"No." Chara's voice shook.

"kid," Sans said, he lifted Chara's head to look in their eyes, then froze, seeing Chara's red pupils. "you're not frisk." He looked absolutely disturbed, his eye lit blue.

Chara's lip quivered, the image of Sans mirrored Frisk's dream, which was still fresh in their mind. Shame. Self hate. Fear. Pain. Sorrow. Remorse. The emotions were too much, too confusing, and all muddled through the filter of sleep. They burst out into tears again, crying louder than before.

An icy cold seized their soul and they felt themself being lifted off the bed, hovering in spot. Sans had backed off the bed, he looked scared, disturbed, and angry, one eye was pitch black, and the other glowed blue, the same unforgiving blue that engulfed Chara's form. More flashes of memories hit. They could remember the battle with Sans, being levitated in the golden hall, a cruel smile on their bloodied face that was now red with shame and fear. Their legs dangled in thin air, they could hardly breathe through the sobs, and what's worse? The stupid voice was back.

'Look at you, pathetic. You really can't do anything right, can you? You died to save the monsters, and ended up making it all so much worse. Even your own life, the most precious thing you had wasn't enough, was it? He'll kill you, you know. Just like he did all those times before. Then you'll be back where you belong. And if you really care about anything, you won't come back.'

Chara sucked in a painful breath, "SHUT UP SHUT UP!" They yelled.

Sans seemed to freeze. He got a look on his face that could only be described as DETERMINED. With a wave of his hand, he lowered Chara to the bed, still holding them in place. Chara scrunched up their features, trying to calm down, Sans let them, and didn't speak until they were in a calmer mood.

"Do you have any weapons?" He asked.

"No." Chara responded. There was a pocket knife in the nightstand drawer, but that was it.

'you should stab him with it.'

Chara ignored the voice.

"What did you do to Frisk?" Asked Sans.

"Nothing." They choked. "They did this to me."

"Why?" Sans looked skeptical.

"Bad dreams. They didn't want to deal with it, so they passed it off on me." Chara said honestly.

"That doesn't sound like them." Sans commented.

Chara didn't know what to say, they had told the truth! Their eyes filled with tears again. Sans was just like every other adult, they believe every lie, but the second you're honest with them, they get suspicious.

"Is frisk in the room?" Sans asked.

"Yes." Chara responded through a sob.

"Don't give me those crocodile tears, kid." Sans said, accusatory.

A spark of defensiveness lit in Chara's SOUL. It, like every other emotion, was all empomasing. "I'm not faking you asshat!" They choked, "For the first time in decades, I'm feeling actual emotions, and it fucking hurts, okay?" They sobbed again, and felt the aura around their SOUL drop. They were free to act, but didn't move to.

'Stab him.'

Sans leaned against the wall, his eye still lit, watching Chara carefully. "feeling emotions, huh? boo hoo, you're just like the rest of us. except, you're not. do you know how much trouble you've put on the universe? and on me personally?"

Guilt hit them, but so did defiance.

"Ya, and what about you and the stupid DETERMINATION experiments?" Chara shot back. "I saw what you and those scientists did to my brother." Their voice cracked. "To...to all those people."

Sans expression broke, but only for a second. "you're not one to talk about hurting people." His voice was deadly. "What about all those monsters you killed?"

"They didn't die." Chara spat, "We could reset it all at any time. And we did."

Sans cringed at the word 'reset' but didn't let it show. "why did you do it?" Sans asked.

Chara thought about this. They were still shaking, and still exhausted, but at least now they could focus a bit better. "Do what?" they asked.

"don't play dumb with me. why would you ever choose to hurt those people?"

"You wouldn't understand." They said.

"try me." He countered.

'Stab him. The knife is right there.'

Chara's eyes did drift over to the nightstand this time. But yet again they felt a sense of defiance.

"Uhg. Hold on." Chara said, burying their head in their hand and taking a deep breath, "I need my mind to shut up."

They reached for the nightstand carefully, aware of Sans watching their every move, and pulled out the pocket knife, sliding it across the covers in a single flick of their hand.

Sans observed the object before carefully picking it up. "a knife." It wasn't a question.

"Ya." Chara confirmed situating themself on the covers.

"you told me you didn't have any weapons."

"I didn't! I just had it next to me. It's not even mine anyway."

"Did you steal it?"

"NO!" Chara said, defensive again, "Me and Frisk found it at rest stop, it was buried in the ground, must have been there for years."

"hmm." He held up the object, "we'll come back to this." he dropped it in his pocket. "you said you wanted your mind to shut up. maybe you should explain that to me first.

Chara opened their mouth, then closed it again, shaking their head, trying not to relapse into crying. Why should they tell him anything? but on the other hand, why shouldn't they? This would all reset one day, and if talking about it just once could take their mind off things, make life a little more barrable, then why not play along? "I...I um…" They began, "I hear voices. Well...a voice. I know it's me, people have told me that. But sometimes, I don't know that, because it doesn't really act like me. I guess."

'Shut up, idiot.'

"It just called me an idiot." They said it with an almost hysterical laugh, their shaking got worse, tears started to run down their face again. "See, I haven't heard the voice in a long time. It wasn't there when I was...a...um demon."

"was it there when you were human?"

"Yes."

Sans nodded. Chara remembered what he had told them about the anomaly. Maybe Sans thought that if he understood Chara he could stop them from resetting.

"tell me about that." He prompted. "you were tori's kid, right? fell into the underground? why would a human even climb mt. ebbot?"

In the back of the room, Frisk froze, no tuned in fully to the conversation.

Chara bit their lip, "It's a long story." They said.

"i'm all ears. even though i don't have any."

Chara actually snorted a laugh, Sans seemed to relax a little bit.

"Well," Chara began, "it all started a little over 30 years ago...if you add up all the timelines…"

* * *

 **Hold onto yo butts, folks, next chapter it's flashback time! Please leave a comment telling me what you thought! Also, starting next chapter, I will begin writing responces for any reviews I get at the end of every chapter. So any comment posted from here onwards will get an end-of-chapter responce! Thank you so much for reading this you guys! You all light up my life!**


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